Sunday, February 17, 2008

Movieworld - Cars of the Stars was a museum in Buena Park that showcased custom cars and hot rods painted up by famous artists like Von Dutch and others. It doesn't exist anymore.

OCThen reader Sean writes asking if anyone had more information about it, and offers up some of his memories...

I was looking for some info on Movieworld - Cars of the Stars in Buena Park on your site, but noticed it was not on the list of Attractions. I went there when it first opened and all of the exhibits (movie props and celebrity/movie cars) were just laid out on the floor in a large warehouse in rows. It was not the fanciest why to display them (it looked like a flea market), but it was still really cool, especially if you were a movie buff.

I remember hand painted signs describing some of the props and what movie they came from.

Years later, I went again and it had been transformed more into a museum with false walls which led visitors on a specific path (like Movieland Wax Museum), more dramatic lighting, and a snack bar in the middle of the museum. I also remember TV commercials which featured Billy Barty promoting the museum and sliding down a tube slide which was also in the middle snack bar area.

I have not seen much about this museum on the Internet although it seemed to be a decent attraction in Buena Park at the time. Is there any other information on it and what happened to the collection? I think I saw some of the cars at the Peterson Museum in L.A. but the movie props were the most interesting part of it for me and I often wonder what happened to them. Some of them included movie miniatures like ships, trains, and submarines. The most memorable prop was the miniature of King Kong shackled on display (near the end of the 1933 movie) which Willis O'Brien used in the stop motion animation.

When the Von Dutch clothing and hats were popular a few years ago, I did see something mentioned in an article about Von Dutch living in the parking lot of this museum in a bus. Other than that, I have not seen or heard anything else and I am wondering if anyone else has any memory about this place.

Keep up the great work. I just found your site and have a lot of exploring to do still on it!

Cheers,Sean

P.s. I wonder if you remember the religious wax museum that was connected to Movieland Wax Museum too? It had a replica of Michelango's Statue of David in front of the entrance.

63 comments:

Movieworld was owned by the Brucker brothers during the late 60s-70s. When the museum closed the items were placed in a warehouse/airplane hanger for years. Portions of the collection have been sold over the years but there was a major auction in May of 06 put on by RM Auctions in California. I believe most of the collection was sold at this time including; cars, props, airplanes, original artwork by Robert Williams, Von Dutch, Ed Roth and portions of the late Steve McQueen's estate. All the items went for 2-3 times the estimated bid amount! I think the entire collection is in private hands now but you might still be able to buy an illustrated catalog from RM Auctions to see many of the items. You can also buy a book called Kustom Kulture which has information and pictures of the museum.

I lived in Buena Park in 1977-1979 and went with a friend one night to see a really loud band play there, Today they call them VanHalen, It was Loud ! I wish I knew what I was seeing back then I would have got some Pic's I tell people and they say, "Yeah Right" But it happened for realHenry

I was THERE, too! I was hanging out with a bunch of friends at Skatopia Skate Park and we all heard the music so we booked it on over there and had a GREAT time! I had heard the band a couple of times before - I had seen them at a couple of "kegger parties" BUT needless to say I had no idea that what I was witnessed that night was THE Van Halen! Good times, RIGHT? Tracy Bott

I was the promoter of all of those great concerts at Movie World , Cars of Stars. We used the old planes of fame building. It was 60,000 sq. feet which allowed for a lot of people. We backed to flatbed trucks up end to end. I had carpet ran down the entire top of the flat beds so that you couldn't trip.

I would usually book three bands for the night but sometimes would book four. I booked Blonde, The Motels, X, Van Halen to name a few. I promoted concerts there until Knott's Berry Farm took action and thought it was taking away from thier business. They had a city counsel meeting and I was out. No more concerts. We promoted under the name "Penny Lane Productions".

I lived in Cerritos and went to that show at Cars of the Stars with Van HalenI also didn't realize WHO they were at the timeA few months later I saw them at a back yard kegger party in Whittier, paid $3 to be within 10 feet of the stage.

In the early 70's I was ten years old and allowed to walk to the museum and spend all day there.After paying to get in several days in a row they finally just let me walk in for free. I spent all my time there. Ed Roth and his son Charlie were there a lot, at the time I had no idea how cool that was. Roth painted a lot of those signs that explained the displays. I too have seen some of the pieces on display at the Peterson. Some of the signs have ended up on Ebay. That was a great experience.

I worked at the giftshop at movieworld back in the mid 70's. at the time I had no idea who Ed Roth was but come to find out my daughter went to highschool and was good friends with his son charlie's daughter Jillian Roth. She is all grown up now, 25 por 26 I think. But my friends and I who all got jobs at the museum in our teens, me-Cheri, Judi, DeLos, Jenni, and Lori had a blast. They played Beatle music constantly over and over all day and night. Didnt get much Business, I guess thats what led to its closing. Its too Bad it closed, it sure would be fun to walk through it again!

I used to take the bus from Huntington Beach as a young teen and spent hours hanging out in that museum. I'm a huge film buff and it was like magic being so close to the props and cars used in films. There was a cable controlled vulture I remember playing with and seeing the cars from The Great Race and miniatures from Tora Tora Tora and King Kong were a huge highlight. Everytime I went back, something always changed. I remember a very creepy wax museum of torture which was cool but very disturbing. I have fond memories of the place and wish there was a similar place around.

I so remember cars of the stars and planes of fame. I was a young impressionable girl who liked fast cars and motorcycles. I LOVED this place and frequented it often and was just fondly remembering what happened one day. They contacted my father because we owned several collectible cars including one they were interested in.. Audie Murphy's Lincoln Continental...a '64 ? It had gold metal flake paint, suicide doors, mirrored opera windows, bullet proof glass, and black leather interior with a 4/8 track player. This car was so cool...my dad surprised my mom with it as a gift for his being in the doghouse. When we would go shopping we always came out to a crowd gathered around it. It was a real beauty. Cars Of The Stars wanted it but my dad eventually sold it ot one of his bartenders and she filled it with whiskey dents and such. Too Bad. Wish I had it today but only photos are left for the memories of this fine ride. Had mags too. I loved growing up in LaPalma...it is rocked to be form O.C.

Wow, the memories. I lived nearby beginning in 1971 and went to the museum a number of times, mostly to the car side (east of lobby/ gift shop) and only once to the plane side (west side). The tickets were sold separately. One time the ticket taker for the car side was Ed Roth, who was in good humor and quite friendly.

Let's see... there was John Lennon's psychedelically painted Rolls Royce. A recording of Beatles songs (including "It's only Love) cycled endlessly on a nearby speaker. A BMW Isetta grabbed my attention (I owned and restored one a short time later). Herbie the Love Bug was a major exhibit, as the movie was fairly recent. There was a full size manikin of Rod Steiger as The Illustrated Man. As I recall, one of those hand painted signs explained that the manikin served to help the makeup artists properly illustrate Steiger for each day's filming. There were many Roth and (I believe) Barris custom cars like the Munsters car and the Batmobile. I should remember more specifics as the place was huge inside and it took at least a half hour to walk around and see everything.

On my single visit to the plane side, I was impressed by the original VW Kubelwagen on display; the fiberglass bodied, Mexican built "The Thing" homage had just debuted in VW showrooms at the time. Could there have been a Schwimmwagen amphibious vehicle as well? Maybe, or perhaps I had just read about it at during the same time period. There were lots of neat planes on display, but they were not really my area of interest.

Museums full of truly wonderful stuff like custom hot rods tend to be ephemeral, as few of them are self-sustaining. Not many people will pay enough ticket money to keep a roof on a place that houses someone's collection of fantastic yet hyper-specialized stuff. Governments will forever pay to house dusty stuffed animals or Etruscan artifacts, but, in general, will not pony up for anything really worthwhile or interesting. When something magical like Cars of the Stars manages to hover above the tedium of a Buena Park dairy lot, one must seize upon the opportunity like there is no tomorrow. Usually, there isn't!

Useless trivia: In early 1974 I bought a leftover new 1973 Mazda RX-2 coupe for $2925 from Buena Park Mazda, around the corner on Knott Avenue from the museum. The first of the 1970s gas shortages was in full swing and 17 MPG small Japanese cars were a tough sell; they had a lot full. The young dudes with the lowered Hondas these days have no idea how uninspired and derivative their cars are compared to the fire breathing, seven grand redline Mazda rotary engined "family cars" of the 1970s. Jeez, I wish I still had mine!

It was right next to Hufs Hut. I remember they had the miniature of the boardwalk/Ferris wheel from the movie 1941, also a big round spinning disk on the floor with day glow paint. I went quite a few times, it was always pretty empty and the place was huge, I am sure it couldn't sustain itself.. Timing is everything, it would probably do very well now since the custom car scene has become so huge. Dammit, someone find me a time machine!

I grew up in Buena Park and remember Movieworld. I was a kid at the time. I also was a huge movie buff, so I was more into the “Cars o’ the Stars” side of the house as opposed to the “Planes of Fame”. Aside from the truly wonderful vehicles, I absolutely loved the movie memorabilia. I remember they had a set of Mr. Spock’s pointed ear tips from “Star Trek TOS”. There was an actual model of King Kong used in the 1933 classic movie (the scene where Kong is chained in NYC; the display contained info on the inner skeletal mechanics of the model). I also recall the heavily tattooed mannequin of Rod Steiger as Carl, his role from the “Illustrated Man” (probably because it freaked me out).

I loved looking at all the cars, but my favorite was the exhibit from Blake Edwards’ “The Great Race” (I LOVE that flick). Of course, there was “The Leslie Special” (a beautiful “auto-mo-beel”), but Professor Fate’s Hannibal 8 was the BEST (if I remember correctly, Movieworld had two Hannibal 8’s; one was on of the versions that was “uplifted” via its classic lazy tong mechanism). They also had the Professor Fate submarine set---schweet.

Another fun memory I have from Movieworld is that they had a special event where they were promoting this new TV show called “Happy Days”. The show was in its infancy and I was a fan, so I went down to meet the cast. It was a blast. Everyone got a chance to personally meet and spend a few minutes chatting with the actors.

@Anonymous (Aug. 17, 2009): Yes, I believe Movie World did have two Hannibal 8s from The Great Race. At one point, one of them was rigged to rise up and down at the push of a button. Also, in the late-'70s, when Movie World had become a movie-themed fun house/museum, the Great Race items were enclosed in an "ice cave" with a mannequin polar bear.

I remember the Great Race submarine set, too (the interior with a periscope). I photographed it at the time, but since I was only 10, the picture is nothing to write home about.

I missed the Happy Days event, but in the the late '70s, a setpiece from that show's early seasons--the Cunningham garage--was on display as well as at least one car: a yellow one that was pinstriped.

I believe the mannequin of Rod Steiger you mentioned was used as reference for applying the makeup on Illustrated Man. I recall it being displayed near some of John Chambers's Planet of the Apes makeups (i.e., appliances and/or molds).

Movie World had a vast inventory, not all of which may have been displayed publicly. For example, the 1960s Batmobile was stored behind the building, but as far as I know was ever actually an exhibit. There was also an armature of one of the spiders from King Kong's lost scene, sold to Movie World by David Allen, and a few setpieces from MGM's The Wizard of Oz.

Even with all the stuff that was displayed, I remember it being hard to identify everything. There was so much to see, I didn't have time to read all the descriptions (and I could only stay there as long as my family was willing). Plus not everything was identified.

I remember the Museum quite well ...I grew up just on the other side of the 91 Freeway on Blackhawk circle ... It was a favorite haunt of my brother and I .... We'd spend hours there during the summer ... I bought a few models from the hobby shop that was in the lobby area as well ...

I went there many, many, times in the mid 70's. Never thought to look for Ed Roth, and I was & still am a huge Roth fan. I probably walked right by him or Von Dutch, as I do remember seeing someone painting signs there. Anyone remember the Ed Roth tombstone in the museum, there on display? It was polished black granite with the Ed "Big daddy" Roth name on top and the Rat Fink in the middle, with the inscription "Won a few, lost a few" and his birth date. When he died his family didn't use it as I have seen his quite plain tombstone where he is buried. I did buy quite a few Rat Fink key chains from their gift shop then, in all the colors, and still have them today along with a few Rat Fink slot cars unbuilt that are worth quite a bit now. Sure miss the Big Daddy and Movieland....

Just back from the Portland Roadster show, where they had a hand painted Von Dutch van from Movie World... The one he slept in? Looks lime it might fit the bill... 15" clear glass eyeball graphic on the front, tons of tasty hand done type.

This is so very cool. I bought a 1955 Studebaker President State Sedan from a woman in 1983. She said that its claim to fame was that it had been owned by Cars of the Stars in California. She drove it daily. After sitting in fields, barns and an extra garage for 27 years I am getting around to making it into a weekend driver.

I was looking through the paperwork that she gave me and it was registered to a gentleman in Buena Park, CA in 1974 and 1975. A certificate of compliance - motor vehicle pollution control dated 11-1-75 for the car shows the name of the registered owner to be Cars of Stars.

Its original color is Sonora Beige over Saginaw Green. It had been completely reupholstered in maroon velour. Headliner, carpet, seats, door panels – everything! I did not like the green exterior with the maroon interior so am in the process of changing the green (so far the underside of the hood and the engine compartment) to Tilden Gray which I think goes with the interior so much better.

The gentleman whose name is on the ’74 &’75 registration is Mitchell Anthony Patrick, 6920 Orangethorpe, Buena Park, CA. I doubt if there is anyway I can fill in the 1954 to 1974 period unless the state of California has registration paperwork going back that far.

Wow, I grew up in So. Cal. and was beginning to wonder if I'd ever find a site that would verify my memories of this place! Even Wikipedia doesn't seem to know about it. (It shows some Australian park by the same name - could they be related?)

I remember most of what everybody else is recalling here, plus I remember once there was a WWII-themed area with tanks and ammo and a little area set up like a battle-zone. There were toy land mines on the floor you could step on and they'd all play loud sound effects to sound like you were blowing up.

What got me thinking about it is that today Boing-Boing has a story on those coin-op Mold-O-Rama machines:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/22/those-wonderful-mold.html

And Movie World was the only place I remember had one. I think I recall I got a Frankenstein head there.

BTW, Movie World's location was actually about a block from both Knott's Berry Farm and Movieland Wax Museum. Together with the Buena Park Mall, this made for an awesome neighborhood.

Only trouble was, you couldn't find anybody from out of town who'd give it a chance! Every time I had friends or relatives from another state, I'd suggest the Buena Park attractions and would get outvoted "No way! Disneyland!" I got so *sick* of Disneyland! But I guess the Buena Park attractions were for the locals, which was cool because they were never as crowded.

We use to ride our bikes there as kids in the early seventies. They had a real nice hobby shop where we would buy airplane and car model kits. I remember the guy that worked there and the souvenir shop his name was Lenard. The planes that were there belonged to the Planes of fame museum, now at the Chino airport.

As a young boy in the early 70's my mom took my brother and I to see this very cool movie museum. “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” played as re-runs during the time period we went so seeing the Seaview submarine perched a few feet from my gaze left me awestruck. It was like seeing a movie star. The other display that is deeply embedded is from my favorite movie “Forbidden Planet.” That display is Robby the Robot on his electric chariot. Now, I have to admit that I was deathly afraid of robots as a child, but there was something about Robby that put those scared feelings to rest. After seeing the movie for the first time I understood why I liked Robby. Who wouldn’t like him? Overall I enjoyed Movie World and wish there was something similar out there I could take my son to. Thanks for posting this blog so old geeks like myself can post some happy memories.

yes i remember cars of the stars and planes of fame,i too grew up in Lakewood,California and we went there many times after it opened like when all the rides were closed at knotts berry farm, i really miss those memories of my childhood living there i moved away in 1977 after high school to alabama, and havent been back since. sad to heaar it's gone. james lovett

My Mom took me to Cars of Stars - Planes of Fame a couple times in '73 or '74. My favorite piece in the museum was a huge model of the Graf Zeppelin hanging from the ceiling. It had lights in it, and was just fascinating to look at. It had a small tear in the fabric covering, probably from someone either throwing something at it, or it got damaged during transport. I wonder where that thing ended up?

Sorry to hear it's gone,, besides the Harris car museum(also gone) it was the greatest collection I have ever seen, Laural and Hardy's car movie, The cars from the Great Race move, Bonnie and Clyde's death car with bullet holes. It was just amazing, The museum itself was very cheesy, Collection amazing. There needs to be a book on it

The Lamay collection is the last of the mega collections, 3000 cars. Right now a museum is being built in Tacoma, WA

I have read various things about how many cars will be on display At first the Museum would have all of them making it the center of the universe in car collecting, Recently I have read that it's only showing part of the collection maybe just 500.

This brings up the point how long will it be until the collection is parted out, Why own that many cars and show only part of it? When the economy turns I am sure someone will realize there are millions to be made, Just like they did with the Harris collection.

I tried sneaking in without paying the very first day Movieworld opened. I was 12 years old at the time and I ended up getting caught by old man Brucker and he made me dust every car. Best thing that ever happened to me; ended up working there until I was 18. So many great people and so many great memories.

What about the Creature from the Black Lagoon? Or all the Little Rascal Props??? This place was the Greatest when I was a child.I never could get enough of that huge tube slide inside the building..I was always in awe of Robie the 7ft robot..I was beginning to think this place was only in my mind..I've searched everywhere for news on this place to No avail.Finding people with the same great experiences at this place,restores my sanity..Thank You Guys sO much....GOOD TIMES!!!!!

I remember the Monkeemobile being there, as well as the Batmobile and other George Barris creations. I never saw Ed Roth there, but did meet him once at Ascot in about 1967 at the Sprint Car races. I used to ride my bicycle over from Cypress on occasion.

My cousin Duane Feduska Raced sprint cars at Ascot in the 1970's. Got pretty banged up a few times in some bad crashes. He never Went on to race any other cars but made a few cute kids who are all grown up now and have made him a grandpa. Anyone remember Duane? He grew up in Buena Park and then Cerritos.

my name is tiny will people know me by that name. i worked security there and a lot of fun. when i was there mom and pop brucker had it when they retired there son jimmy took over. i still have some pic's of the stars that was there when they had car auctions.they had so much going on there.i remember when dutch moved his bus in the back area. i still see the inside.i thank god i got to work there.

I was caught sneaking into Movieworld the day the museum opened by old man Brucker. He made me dust every car in there; turned out to be a great thing however, ended up working there until I was 18. Later I would take the Happy Days and Walton cars to the studios for the shoot; pick them up afterwards and return them to their sets in the museum. Ed Roth, Von Dutch, and Hawkeye the museum mechanic (greatest guy ever) I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be mentored and to my shame never took advantage. I have some great memories and even better experiences because of that place.

My family drove down to Disneyland from San Jose in the summer of 71 and we stumbled across the Cars of the Stars / Planes of Fame after a visit to the nearby wax museum. Money was tight so I was surprised when my parents paid for our family of five to go in. My brothers and I were into cars of course but WWII was big with us as well so we enjoyed much of the Planes of Fame side as well. I remember I bought a souvenir bomb site, I think it was a legit training aid, I still have it along with the glossy full-color brochure for the attraction somewhere in my catacombs. The car side didn't have any heavy hitters at that time like the Batmobile but we enjoyed the customs and we had seen The Great Race so it was fun to see those vehicles. I do remember Lennon's RR as others have mentioned. Anyone have a listing of the cars on display?

I grew up very close the cars of stars/planes of fame museum. I used to try to sneak into the Sherman Tank that they had in the parking lot. I was just a little kid then. I had seen the movie Battle of the Bulge on TV. There was a scene where Telly Savalas climbed out the bottom of his tank. I remember thinking "Hey" that Sherman tank must have a hatch too. I looked under neath and there it was.There was a piece of plywood there. Well, in I went. The guy who ran the hobby store inside came running out with a bat and started clanking on the tank. I got out and he chased me a little. It took me a while to get the courage to go back. I did though. It had a free part in between the two museums. They had a few cars in the patio area. I remember they had a red car that was exploded from the movie"The Mechanic" withCharles Bronson. It was the car that Jan Michael Vincent was killed in. I really preferred the airplane side. They used to have this game that cost like a dime. You were a gunner shooting at other airplanes. It was like a movie. It would make a pinging sound when you were hitting the attacking plane. Years later I went to the Tallmantz museum at John Wayne airport. There was a game just like it. It looked like the one from the planes of fame museum. I was in my twenties then and of course I played it quite awhile. I don't think the Tallmantz museum is around anymore.

Went there with Bruce Davidson in the 72 or 73,Kinda dingy but some great stuff,like the figures of john Wayne,Nancy Sinatra next to a Bike,Pt109 broken up display,Big models from WW2 movies and others and the Roth Cars,but soooo dusty And Big Daddy peaked out from his shop door? We said Hi,He waved,Ifogot all the rest of the stuff in there.Only about 2 or 3 people there that night.We just left Knotts Berry Farm,and stopped in there. Where is that Time Machine? I wanna go back.(I was 21).

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wow what a time trip. all of these images and memories come back as i read these stories. the planes from the ceiling, the tanks out front. the model shop and all the models i bought from there, all the cars, king kong. the movie sets and signs. cool. in 74 i was 10 years old and we rode our bikes there quite a bit. i saw van halen there in 77. they played outside of the building in the parking lot. one of the things i remember was there was two sides. cars of stars / planes of fame. we had to choose each time. we couldnt afford both. you could get a thrifty's ice cream cone for a nickel. good times. thanks for the memories.

In the late '60's, I was searching for motorcycle parts at an old lemon warehouse near Oxnard, CA. There was a motorcycle club called the Question Marks living there who took care of a very large collection of cars belonging the the Cars of the Stars Museum. They had a machine shop, paint booth, and everything one would need to restore cars and bikes. I remember seeing an Austin-Healy that Elvis Presley had driven in one of his movies. They also had one of every Yellow Cab and Checker Cab that had been built as well as many cars I could only dream about. There was a '58 Facel Vega that was the most elegant thing I had ever seen. I imagine it's all gone now but it was something that I'll never forget.

Came across this from looking at some King Kong stuff. I went here when I was a kid maybe 10 years old. Coolest place I had ever been to. I remember (if memory serves) the bat mobile, Robbie the robot and the original King Kong armature. Also some very cool WWII arcade games for training gunners. I've wondered about this place over the years until I found this link. I took some pictures with my mom’s Kodak

I work at Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine. We have a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom tourer (white with red wheels) that was owned by silent film star "Clara Bow". This car was reportedly purchased from a California museum "Cars of the Stars" back in the early seventies. Does anyone remember this car? Rumor says that it used to sit out front many times. Any info would help. Thanks